Another self-imposed pandemic quarantine as the Delta Variant raged and more precautions meant more stay-at-home time. All those “lemons” which were dozens of pairs of preloved (old) jeans, suddenly seemed meant to be squeezed into lemonade. Several weeks of cutting and sewing with some binge TV watching produced a new denim creation.
This creation called “Delta Variant Blues” was born from an idea to see how many sewing techniques or ideas that I knew and still wanted to learn. “The Art of Manipulating Fabric” by Colette Wolff is a wonderful book, in case you want to learn more. Sewing with denim can be both versatile and rewarding, but also challenging. So, off I ventured…..
The basic technique I knew was patchwork from my quilting days. Most of my quilts were made from T-shirts as “going-to-college, happy high school graduation” gifts. A side note is that T-shirts need stabilizing because of their stretch quality from the weave and fiber content. Jeans, on the other hand, do not stretch if you use the 100% cotton ones with no synthetic fibers.
Patchworking is the heart of how this creation was made and ultimately assembled. Different cutting, sewing and fabric manipulation techniques with denim were made, and then sewn onto denim pieces which could later be assembled, or patchworked together. Smaller denim pieces were stitched/patched together and then those medium pieces were stitched/patched together. All the pieces were randomly cut, sewn and then assembled, with no traditional patterns. (blocks, rectangles) were used. Rather, they were randomly assembled to make the final, large piece.
The next technique I love is sashiko, which is a type of traditional Japanese stitching. This is new for me, but I love the simple, meditative stitch and only white and black threads were used. Most were straight lines, but some stitching had circles and curves.
Along with sashiko, I am intrigued by boro. It also comes from Japan and began as a practical way to mend and sew pieces of cloth together to extend the life of clothing. The stitching is visible like sashiko. Lightweight denim pieces were chosen to avoid excess thickness and weight.
Applique was used in 2 ways: 1. the traditional method with a small denim piece sewed on top of a larger denim piece, and 2. Reverse applique with denim being cut-away or with an opening revealing other denim below. This sewing was mostly by hand, but occasionally by machine.
There is a mini patchwork in this creation, and it was challenging to make since the squares and rectangles were so small. Pressing the seams flat was important to reduce its bulk.
One experimentation was with bleaching denim. A few drops here and there created a nice contrast of white against blue. A little hand stitching around some drops for accent was another fun experimentation.
Some other fabric manipulation techniques included weaving, tucks, pleats, gathering/ruffling and pieces on pieces. Softer denim was used for some of these as the thicker weave and weight of cotton made it too difficult. This was learned by trial-and-error.
Embroidery was done both by machine and hand. The blanket stitch was wonderful as a binding on denim edges while the machine work was more elaborate. A blind stitch by hand was used, too.
Distressed fabric can be manufactured or occur from natural usage. Cuts, sanding, grating and even chemical treatments are used commercially. I prefer the “released” hems and waistbands that reveal natural wear-and-tear from usage.
Unravel (frayed) denim pieces were used to highlight the unique and beautiful denim warp (blue indigo) and weft (white) weaving. The cut and frayed/raveled denim pieces are stitched on top of other denim to display them and give a little texture.
Seams are an area where I do not have a lot of expertise. My faithful, 40-plus decades old sewing machine is the only one I have and sergers are alien to me. I do look forward to owning one in the future and maybe move toward sewing with stretch fabrics. In the meantime, this denim piece has 4 types of seams: plain, felled, French and slot.
The final assembly was a lengthy process and kind of like working with a jig-saw puzzle. Moving and turning pieces around, adding pieces to pieces, aligning edges, stepping back to view, ensuring balance and clean edges, etc. Working on a big tile floor was very helpful.
And so, after several weeks, I present my “Delta Variant Blues.” This photo was taken on my patio and has the creation hanging (not evenly) from a rod. It is not yet backed or bound, but I am just too excited to completely finish it before showing it!
